A Friend Called Momo
by TheOnlyWayOut
Summary: Before Aang, he lived with a friend called Mother, safe in the caves under the Southern Air Temple. But one day, he decides to follow Mother outside of his home. Then, everything changes. A Momo origin story. ONESHOT.


Disclaimer: Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Mike, Bryan and Nickelodeon

The first thing he remembered was the dark. But it was not dark to him then. It just was. There were things his eyes could see and things they could not, but he did not know the difference. The friend called Mother told him that that is how it has always been and how it always will be. "Lady Dark keeps us safe," she told him as he snuggled close to her soft body, "her wings spread over this world and keep all her children safe from the fire."

"What's that?"

"Something bad."

"Why, Mother?"

"Because there was a time where Lady Dark was not always here. We were seen. It was not safe."

"What was it like before?"

She did not answer for she did not remember.

His first years were spent under the wing of Lady Dark. She taught him how to see the impossible. His friend called mother showed him how to move like the drafts of air rushing through Lady Dark's realm. She showed him how to hang with two hands on the stalagtites dripping off of Lady Dark's sky. She showed him how to eat whatever crawled.

Sometimes, Mother would disappear for a time and leave him alone. He would wait, patient and still for her return. When she always did, she brought with her some juicy food she called "fruit". He loved eating it and always wanted more. He asked her where she found it.

"Where Lady Dark's wings don't reach."

She never said anything more than that. It was the first time he was told there was somewhere Lady Dark's wings did not reach.

One day, he decided to follow the friend called Mother to he did not go. She flew through the world like a draft of air, silent and swift. Staying in the shadows, he trailed behind flying as quietly as a moth-spider.

Where did Lady Dark's wings not reach?

And then- light. His eyes burned and he looked away as he was dazzled by the whiteness of it, shielding his eyes with his wing and hissing at the threat. How could it pain him so much with just a look?

After a while, however, the attack lessened and his eyes grew stronger. Blinking, he advanced, ready to face the threat and ready to find Mother. A draft of air wooshed in and he flew out and out. He stopped.

The sky was so light! The air out here was so fresh! The air moved more freely than the drafts of Lady Dark's domain. And the smells- oh! the smells. So many new scents! He didn't know what any of them were but he wanted so desprately to find out. He sniffed and took it all in. Did he smell... fruit?

Yes, he did. Excitedly, he fluttered around, eager for a tasty treat. But why settle for one? As far as he could see there were brown and green stalagmites all around adorned with Tthe fruit. He squaked and scuttered up the childish obstacles for his reward. He teeth tore at the fruit, the sticky juices dripped down his face. Why did they hide in Lady Dark's domain when there was so much food out here?

Here- where was here? So he looked.

The ceiling here was the palest blue. Instead of stalagtites hanging in the sky, fluffy tufts of what looked like fur floated above him, just like himself and Mother. And there were stalagmites all over. The green and brown ones he had already seen were scattered across the ground. There was one big one, too, shaped in a perfect prism with exits like the one he had used to leave Lady Dark's realm.

Full with fruit, he decided to see more of this world.

He went in one of the entrances in the prism, much larger than he or the friend called Mother was. This cave was weird, its lines were as perfect as the line of his back or the curve of Mother's tail.

He entered a room. And stopped. It was filled with giant... rocks. They looked like himself or Mother but they only had two hands and they stood up, proudly, on their hindlegs. There were so many, spiraling out and on until even he could not see them anymore as Lady Dark shielded them from his sight.

Then, a clatter. A clanking. Movement?

His ears perked up and his heart rate sky-rocketed. He shouldn't have left Lady Dark's protection. As Mother had told them, there was danger. Was there fire here? Not waiting to find out, he streached his arms and flew up high, where hopefully Lady Dark shaded him.

As he hid, light filled up the space below him and two shadows entered the room, followed by two creatures that had only two hands.

"Did you really have to attack that poor defenseless animal, Prince Zuko?" The sound came from a round two-hand, who was graying, just like the friend called Mother.

"How did I know it was just a flying lemur? The Avatar could be here! It could have been one of his suprise attacks!" The smaller, bald one fumed.

"And I'm sure that if the Avatar was here, his first attack would be to send off an aged lemur to best his foes," the round one chuckled. "That was a joke, Prince Zuko."

"Let's just go. There's nothing to find here. We are going to the Eastern Air Temple. The Avatar's sure to be there!"

The round one just sighed and followed the angry one out.

The lemur waited until the two-hands were gone and he flew home. Mother was right, it wasn't safe.

So, he stayed in his home under Lady Dark's protection, waiting for the friend he called Mother to return. He waited and waited until he finally fell asleep and when he woke up she wasn't there either.

Days passed, then weeks. He was still waiting. After months, he started going out of his home again and he started waiting for her in the room full of two-hands. If she returned, he could see her landing from the safety of Lady Dark's wings. But as the seasons passed, he stopped looking. But he was still waiting for someone.

Then, one day came along. "The special day" he called it.

He had been returning from breakfast when he heard a clatter coming from the two-hand's room. A commotion? Could it be someone special?

He peeked in. Nothing. Could she be hiding? Then, a shout.

"LEMUR!"

"DINNER!"

The lemur scuttled away. He knew the look on the tail-headed two-hands face. He was hungry. The lemur knew the feeling all too well when he was younger. But that was a long time ago, thanks to a friend called Mother. She had helped him and gave him fruit. Maybe he could help, too?

And so he returned with an offering of fruit to his maybe-friends, just like his friend called Mother had done to him. He backed away slowly. Would they disappear, too?

Eyes sparkling and mouth watering, the tail-head snatched up the fruits and stuffed his mouth. A blissful smile crept up over his juice covered, stickly lips and he groaned in thanks (the lemur wondered fleetingly if the two-hands had ever had a girlfriend). Were they the friends he had waited for?

And, after munching on a peach from a friend called Aang, Momo knew the answer.

* * *

Edit: I caught some typos and spelling inconsistencies.


End file.
